1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clothes dryer of the type executing a drying operation wherein hot air is supplied into a drum being turned with clothes accommodated therein and a subsequent intermittent operation of a predetermined period for force radiating heat from the clothes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional clothes dryers of the type described above comprise a drum accommodating clothes to be dried and turned by an electric motor, a fan and a heater for producing hot air and a control circuit. The control circuit controls the motor, the fan and the heater so that a drying operation and a subsequent intermittent operation are executed. The drying operation includes a drying step in which the hot air is supplied into the drum for drying the clothes and a subsequent cooling step in which room temperature air is supplied into the drum for reducing the high temperature therein. In the subsequent intermittent operation, for example, the fan and the drum are driven for ten seconds and interrupted for five minutes alternately repeatedly with the heater deenergized, so that heat is force radiated from the clothes in the drum. Consequently, the clothes can be kept soft and spontaneous firing of the clothes can be prevented even when the clothes are left in the drum at a stop. Since the clothes can be kept soft, creases can be prevented from being caused in the clothes.
In the conventional clothes dryers, however, a period of the intermittent operation is fixedly determined by a timer. The period of the intermittent operation is determined to be adapted for the worst conditions such as expected largest quantity of clothes to be dried. Consequently, the intermittent operation usually tends to be excessively prolonged, which results in waste of electrical energy and damage in the clothes.